Due to their apparent symbolism for the continuity of life, eggs have often been used by divergent cultures as a medium of artistic expression. Egg decoration spans a range from simple coloration of the exterior surface of the egg to elaborate depictions of decorated eggs utilizing precious metals and gemstones. While most persons appreciate the beauty of an elaborately decorated egg as an object d'art, many people lack the skill, experience and/or patience necessary to go beyond the simple coloring or decorating of the eggshell.
The most simple form of egg decoration, as noted above, is the coloring of the exterior eggshell with one or more hues. Here, the egg is typically boiled in order to cook the albumen and vitellus contents thereof. This both stabilizes the egg for the decorative process and helps preserve the egg. Cooking the egg, though, is not entirely satisfactory. In this method, some eggs may be lost due to the cracking of the shell during the boiling procedure, and, in any event, the life of the finished product is limited due to the eventual spoilage of the cooked egg after a relatively short period of time.
Accordingly, it is known to remove the albumen and vitellus materials, commonly referred to as the yoke and white of the egg, prior to the decorative process. One technique to accomplish the removal of the egg contents is known as "egg blowing". In this procedure, the eggshell is pierced at two spaced locations, usually at opposite ends of the egg. A person then blows air into the interior of the egg through one of the holes. The elevated pressure resulting from this blowing procedure forces the contents of the egg out of the second opening so that a majority of the albumen and vitellus material is removed. The remaining shell may then be decorated, as desired.
Egg blowing, however, does have certain disadvantages and potential risks. On one hand, the formation of the pair of openings is often done utilizing a needle, pen or other sharp, pointed object that is forced through the eggshell. With this technique, there is more than an insignificant chance that the eggshell will become broken and unusable. Moreover, this technique is not desirable for small children due not only to the difficulty of creating the openings, but also due to the risk of injury from the piercing tool.
In addition, traditional egg blowing has some health risks. Many eggs are known to carry harmful bacteria that can infect a person during the egg blowing operation. Since this bacteria can be present both on the exterior of the egg and in the internal contents, even the careful cleansing of the egg before the egg blowing procedure does not entirely eliminate the possibility of a bacterial infection. In addition, regardless of the care and skill of the egg blower, some of the egg contents remain on the internal surface of the egg. Such residue can be the growth culture for microorganisms that will be present during the decoration and subsequent handling of the eggshell. Nonetheless, the removal of the contents of the egg and the subsequent decoration of the remaining eggshell is highly desirable since the decorated shell can, with proper care, exist indefinitely without spoilage.
For this reason, various instruments have been utilized to facilitate the removal of the albumen and vitellus material from the interior of the eggshell. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,855,915 issued Dec. 24, 1974 to Hoyt et al. discloses an egg blowing device that includes a bulb like air pump that is secured to a diaphragm that may be pressed against the eggshell. The diaphragm and the air pump include a spike that projects outwardly for piercing the eggshell. Holes are made in the opposite end of the eggshell and, upon compression of the pump, air is forced into the interior of the egg through one hole so that the albumen and vitellus materials are ejected from the eggshell out of the other hole. Thus, this device acts as a mechanical egg blower reducing the danger of bacterial contamination to a person employing such instrument.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,289,762 issued Mar. 1, 1994, to Phillips, U.S. Pat. No. 5,297,477 issued Mar. 29, 1994 to Phillips and U.S. Pat. No. 5,317,962 issued Jun. 7, 1994 to Phillips all disclose various egg evacuation devices through a single hole in the eggshell. Each device provides a hollow tube which extends through the hole in the eggshell. The hollow tube is mounted to a seat on which the egg rests, and the seat provided with an egg collection passageway. On the '762 patent and the '972 patent provide a suction to remove the egg contents. A mechanism for flushing the interior of the egg is provided in one embodiment of the '762 patent. The '477 patent utilizes positive air pressure which is injected through a tube extending through the hole in the eggshell. Positive pressure causes the egg contents to flow out of the hole around the tube and into a chute so it may be discarded.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,182,234 issued Jan. 8, 1980 to Reed discloses an egg contents remover. Here, a pair of tubes are inserted through the eggshell and into the interior thereof. One of the tubes provides an air inlet for forcing compressed air into the egg causing its contents to remove through the other, discharge tube. Compressed air may be provided by manually actuated pump.
Despite the developments disclosed in the respective patents, there remains a need for a simplified apparatus and method for removing the contents from a raw egg and preparation for decorating the same. There is a further need for a simple yet safe and hygienic egg cleaning device which can be produced in kit form either alone or with optional decorating items which kit facilitates the creation of highly decorative eggshells even by the artistically challenged. There is a further need for an apparatus and method that may be used to produce a hole in an eggshell with less risk of breakage for purposes of removing the interior contents from the raw egg. The present invention addresses such needs.